Several Divas, past and present, paid tribute to outgoing Diva, Michelle McCool, on Twitter today.
Michelle’s LayCool BFF, Layla, toasted her opponent last night by saying: “That was the hardest thing I ever had 2 do @McCoolMichelleL I will always have respect, gratitude & love for U! Our memories will stay with me forever. Flawless love ya.”
Outgoing WWE Diva, Michelle McCool spoke to WWE.com about her departure from the company following last night’s Extreme Rules pay per view.
McCool spoke on her nagging foot injury, which is why she was recently seen wearing a boot. She said:
“My foot has been injured for two months now, broken toe, torn joint capsules, torn MCL. I took a good beating by Layla and Kharma, too. I know I’ll be feeling it tonight, tomorrow and probably the next day,” McCool exclusively told WWE.com. “But I’ll wear it with pride.”
I didn’t think much of the school teacher from Palatka, FL seven years ago during a little contest on Monday Night Raw (you may have heard of it). Frankly, said school teacher — while she looked athletic, sure — came across awkward on TV, as if she knew (along with the viewing world) that she didn’t really fit in with the nipped-and-tucked models in bikini tops who made up the rest of the competition. Her thick accent was a little jarring, her looks (which this competition was pretty much based upon) didn’t quite compete with the models and she lacked any distinct personality. Failing to connect with the crowd, the school teacher was cut from the competition in week four. That should’ve been the last we saw of her, but it was just the beginning.
Fast forward seven years and that school teacher, Michelle McCool, is perhaps the most decorated WWE Diva of the last several years. And like any public figure worth knowing about, she’s as controversial as she is talented.
The once doe-eyed school teacher won over many — including myself — and now, as we say goodbye to her, I want to say thank you, Michelle.
Michelle McCool, who lost a Loser Leaves WWE match last night at Extreme Rules, is indeed leaving the company, she confirms via Twitter. The angle served as a very real swansong from WWE for the first ever Divas Champion, who writes: Thx for the love guys….I know there will always be rumors,but that was it … Read more
The battle of the former BFFs led to one ousting the other in a Loser Leaves WWE match. It was Layla, always the underdog in LayCool, that picked up the biggest victory of her career by defeating her long-time BFF, Michelle McCool and forcing her out of WWE. Following a brutal physical brawl, Layla managed … Read more
LayCool implode tonight at Extreme Rules in a Loser Leaves WWE Match. Who will be banished? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…
Cryssi: I think the outcome of this match is pretty cut and dry, but just for the hell of it I’m going to pretend I don’t know what the rumors are and I’m going into this blind thinking it’s a Loser Leaves SmackDown match. So… here we go! Michelle and Layla will have a hard hitting, emotionally charged match with Michelle dominating the majority of it. During the half-way point, the entire Divas lockerroom will empty out of the back and walk to the stage, wanting an eye witness view of these two girls destroying each other. After all, who’s life hasn’t LayCool screwed with? After some offense from Layla, Michelle will take a chair knock out Layla, and instead of going for the immediate cover, she’ll turn to where the Divas are standing and start showboating. The crowd will start freaking out because out of nowhere Kharma will appear and slide into the ring behind Michelle. The other Divas will have shocked looks on their faces and when Michelle arrogantly turns around to pick Layla up for the Faith Breaker, Kharma will be waiting. Michelle will scream and Kharma will pick her up, lay her out with an Awesome Bomb, and drape Layla’s lifeless carcass over Michelle. Layla will win the match, Michelle will be done on SmackDown, and Kharma will send a message to all the other Divas by powerbombing Layla on top of Michelle. She’ll turn to the stage, point at the Divas, and start laughing hysterically as the scene will fade into a promo for whatever pay-per-view is next. Yup.
It’s fair to say that it’s been one heck of a week in WWE Diva-land. We’ve seen epic brawls, exciting Diva drafts, and we were given something incredibly exciting to look forward come SmackDown and the weekend. At the Tuesday night taping, the former BFF duo known as Lay-Cool, squared off in a match that would seemingly put all their issues to rest. Michelle McCool and Layla didn’t wrestle, they brawled. And needless to say their match didn’t happen. But the gauntlet was thrown down and the stipulations were added… and come to find out, very badly edited later. Lets take a look!
The ‘Cool’ part of Lay-Cool is the first to make her way to the ring. Michelle is sporting her SmackDown pride shirt and she does her usual playing to the crowd once she enters the ring. The Lay-Cool theme music continues to play as Lay makes her way out. She is dressed in her blue brand shirt as well and she looks a lot more hesitant to get in the ring than Michelle! Perhaps she’s having regrets over beating the tar out of Michelle?
Former WWE Divas Champion, Michelle McCool is leaving WWE, according to the Wrestling Observer.
The first ever Divas Champion will face off with Layla this Sunday at Extreme Rules in a ‘Loser Leaves WWE’ match. It’s reported that the match could serve as her exit from the company.
On this week’s special draft edition of Monday Night Raw, SmackDown’s Layla squared off against Raw’s Eve, with a draft pick on the line for their brand. To top things off, Layla’s former friend Michelle McCool is at ringside. Will Layla be to score a pick for the blue brand or will Michelle’s presence ensure a victory for Eve? Check out the match below:
We kick things off with Eve already in the ring, representing the red brand. Layla makes her way to the ring next, sporting a customized Smackdown T-shirt. While Layla does her usual entrance, Michelle makes her way out to ring to watch her former friend’s match. After a quick recap of Layla and Michelle’s fight on Smackdown, the official signals for the bell and our cross-branded Divas match is underway.
Happy Good Friday and Earth Day! I hope you all celebrated Jesus and everything he did for us if that is your religious belief and I also hope you recycled because it’s important to protect our planet. Welcome to another wonderful edition of the SD Redux and without beating around the bush (because I have nothing witty to say) lets on with the show. This week’s Diva portion of SmackDown kicks off with a replay of the Lay-Cool disaster from the previous week, as well as a new edition of Couple’s Therapy. Lets take a look at how it all played out this week.
Michelle McCool and Layla are both dressed much better this week than last. Layla returns to being sexy in short shorts and a wife beater, and Michelle is also rocking daisy dukes, as well as a slinky silver, off-the-shoulder top. LOVING it! Michelle tells the doctor that this therapy has been working wonders for them because last week on SmackDown, Layla lost yet another match! Michelle gives a sarcastic “yay” and Layla pretty much kills her with a dirty look.
It’s poor form to jack my intro simply to gush about Edge but since this is my Redux and my platform, I’m going to do exactly that. Besides if you want to be technical he has starred in a couple of these Reduxes and he’s had more than his fair share of Diva storylines. Edge is a brilliant performer and someone who I’ve adored ever since I first got into wrestling. He has it all; looks, talent, charisma, and the ability to make you feel what he feels. On Monday night, when he shockingly retired, I felt numb. I felt like I had just lost a little piece of my wrestling heart. I kind of did, if you want to be fair. No heel has ever made me cheer for them louder and I swear it has nothing to do with the fact Edge is gorgeous or that we share the same birthday. Edge is just that talented. And he is going to be sorely missed. I truly hope everyone can recognize the brilliance that Edge brought to the table. Love him or hate him, he got you talking about him. And I respect the hell out of him.
Thank you, Edge.
Okay, now on to tonight’s show! My mascara is fixed. I’m not going to drown in my tears any longer. Last week, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly returned to action with a victory over Michelle McCool and Layla. This week, Kelly steps back inside the ring to try and prove that her victory in the tag team match was no fluke. She takes on Layla, who’s desperate to try and repair her relationship with her former BFF.
Toss in a therapy session and Rosa Mendes auditioning for Telemundo’s hottest telenovela, Los Herederos del Monte, and you have this week’s amazing edition of the SD Redux!
The doctor welcomes both girls to their first session and immediately Michelle questions why they’re there. They’re not Brangelina, Beyonce and Jay-Z, or any other “couple” in the world for that matter. She also wants to know why Layla is holding her hand and promptly jerks it away. A tissue holding Layla tells Michelle that they’re a team, kind of like Burt and Ernie or “Thelmer” and Louise. Michelle rolls her eyes and corrects Layla’s pronunciation of “Thelma” and says it’s great that Layla wants to compare them to puppets and two characters who drove off a cliff together. Layla says they were best friends like she and Michelle used to be. Michelle places emphasis on the “used to be” part and both girls go silent for a moment.
The end is near, kids. After over 18 months of decreeing childish nicknames upon their foes, speaking in unison and well, rocking fierce fashions that made us envy them, LayCool are headed to Splitsville. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time but like the child caught in a divorce, we’ve stuck our heads under our pillows to drown out the sound of mommy #1 and mommy #2 fighting… until now. We can’t pretend any longer. It’s time to decide: Are you Team Lay or Team Cool?
Don’t panic! We wouldn’t just let you make that decision without some reading material first. Here are our arguments for choosing Team Lay and Team Cool…
Michelle McCool
A backless dress and over-the-knee boots would overwhelm most Divas, but the statuesque Michelle pulls both off nicely. While the cutout in the back is interesting, the front of the dress is just as eye-catching. The pattern is really detailed, but its coloring keeps it from being too much. Michelle’s wild hair adds to the statement-making, often being tossed over a shoulder to give a better look at the back of the dress. Her poses seem to cater to it, from posing backwards in a chair to twisting around and looking back at the camera. It could look awkward, but its a testament to how far Michelle’s come, pose-wise, that it looks almost natural. She’s certainly got a fierce-ness to her now.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Natalya
We all know how much Natalya favors the color pink, but I can appreciate how she manages to mix it up a bit, going for different shades. Here she’s sporting a pale pink strapless top, which is quite detailed and looks great on her from the waist up. I can’t help but think, though, that a longer bottom (skirt or otherwise) would have complemented it better, allowing the top to take center stage. Instead, she’s showing a lot of leg and the two are competing for attention. It’s just not as sleek as it could be. I’m guessing with the blazer that we see in the third photo, the look would be more pulled together. Her poses are natural and smiley, with a bit of mystery thrown in here and there. It’s a good babyface shoot, but the overall cheeriness of it reminds me, in a roundabout way, of her more eccentric heel poses. I wonder if we’ll be seeing that evil laugh again anytime soon..
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
FINALLY… FINALLY! CRYSSI HAS COME BACK TO THE SMACKDOWN REDUX!!!!!! Don’t you just love it?! It’s been a minute since I’ve actually sat down to type one of these up. As you all know I had the privilege of going to SHIMMER two weeks ago and that was followed up by my first ever WrestleMania week experience. It would take me hours and hours to express my thoughts and feelings on everything that happened during those twelve glorious days I was away from home so I’m not going to bother. Instead, I’m going to jump right back into the swing of things and indulge all of you in another amazing Redux. I sure picked a heck of a week to return, mind you. The rarely seen Divas known as Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly were in action. Time to put those milk cartons away, kids. They’re no longer MIA. On this hot and steamy Friday night they teamed together to take on ‘Mania losers, Michelle McCool, and lovely Layla.
Lay-Cool kick us off tonight with their ring entrance. They talk amongst themselves as they make their way down the ramp and of course, we are reminded that Michelle was destroyed by Snooki sometime during that infamous ‘Mania match. Michelle is not thrilled with the replay and Booker T makes a comment that tension has been brewing between Lay-Cool since that match. Interesting.
Raise your hand if you expected any other result last night? (Hopefully no one has their hand raised or I might question whether you enjoy Long Island Iced Teas as much as Snooki.) Going into last night’s WrestleMania 27 it was pretty much a given that this was going to be a star vehicle for Snooki. She’d win the match, have a nice little moment and Lay-Cool would run to the back with their tails between their legs.
What we may not have expected, seeing this match on paper, is just how darn entertaining this segment turned out to be! Yes, I’ll be the first to admit it: I was thoroughly entertained by something involving Snooki from Jersey Shore. Does that mean I’m going to run out and buy her book or the entire first season of the show? Hell no. But for what it was, last night’s six-person tag team match was actually enjoyable. I would say that was thanks, in no small part, to a Stratusfying comeback from Trish Stratus and in my opinion, the most consistent Diva in WWE right now, Michelle McCool.
Watch below:
The Brunette Mafia came out to the ring with a purpose tonight at WrestleMania 27: To take out a hit on Lay-Cool and Dolph Ziggler and that’s exactly what they did.
Surprising the world, Snooki showed off her incredible athleticism, winning the match with a very impressive handspring backbump followed by a handspring splash on Michelle McCool.
WrestleMania is here! Will Stratusfaction be delivered? Will Snooki serve up some ‘Jersey’? Or will Lay-Cool prove to be flawless? The Diva Dirt team weigh in…
April: I am going to have to say that this WeestleMania is going to be the year of the brunettes. Trish Stratus, Snooki & John Morrison are going to take the win on this one. WWE wouldn’t hype up the return of a class act Diva and the addition of a “celebrity” if they couldn’t win it. Plus, on the experience side, I think Trish has it. You mix her with the crazy in-ring style of Morrison and it is bound to be fantastic. I love Lay-Cool and Dolph Ziggler but I have a feeling they’re going fall victim to the power of the Snook this time.
Some more exclusive snaps from Axxess this past week sent in by David.
As previously noted, Wendi Richter was at Axxess yesterday signing autographs and looked fantastic. David noted that was incredibly personable.
Also at Axxess yesterday was none other than Snooki, signing copies of her New York Times bestselling book. (Seriously! She’s a bestseller!)
Diva Dirt’s Mr Glamazon brings us her exclusive daily blog detailing her adventures in Atlanta for WrestleMania 27 this weekend. Check back each day for a new entry! Note from Melanie: Unfortunately, David was unable to write his blog today, but did send along the following pictures from yesterday’s Axxess event! [nggallery id=475]
This year’s program picture courtesy of David at Axxess. Notice that Trish’s hair isn’t Photoshopped this time? Success! [nggallery id=471]
Holy F-bomb, Batman! Last night’s Raw needed a lot of censoring when it came to the Divas in a last effort to attract interest before Sunday’s WrestleMania pay per view.
In a taped segment, Trish Stratus and Snooki were spotted at a bar in New Jersey with the latter looking in no fit state for live TV. (Glug, glug, glug!) Lay-Cool didn’t know what was about to hit ’em…
Trish and Snooki are drinkin’ it up (well, one more than the other) at Miami Mike’s when some dude comes up to them and pesters our pint-sized (pint… *cough*) MTV star. Snooki tells Josh Mathews that she’s ready for ‘Mania (“Bring it on, bitches!”). The interview is interrupted by the lurker — who, by the way, is named Danny E (vital information right there) — and he ends up getting a smack from Snooki for his efforts. A change from being on the receiving end, eh?
Alicia Fox
This is kind of reminiscent of Alicia’s earliest shoots, where she was more “hippie chick” than serious and sleek. The headband, denim shorts, tank top and the furry moccasin-like boots look good on her, even if the style was more relevant back when Alicia first sported the look. And, for as many girls who have tried this kind of look, Alicia pulls it off the best. She’s got an easy, carefree way of posing that doesn’t seem stilted or pretentious, and her athletic body type is well flattered. It seems like she’s trying to replicate those old shoots in her poses, yet sticking in some of her heel attitude to make it more current. She even manages to make the peace sign, used to death by teenaged girls everywhere, look interesting in draping it over her head. It’s little touches like that that make what could be a “been there, done that” kind of photoshoot something new and interesting.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
Kelly Kelly
The champagne color on her top and shoes look fantastic on her, but the white denim shorts are too destroyed for a look like this. The bits of hanging denim would be better suited to a more casual look, and clash with the dressier top and heels. In many of the poses, however, you can’t tell that someone took a par of scissors to them, because when she’s laying on the equipment trunk, it’s well hidden. I like the poses where she looks genuinely relaxed, though they’re few and far between. That’s not to say that Kelly looks unnatural, but it’s always nice to see her mix it up and not giving her usual grin. It adds some depth to the poses when they don’t have the same bright smile–there’s more mystery in it. Though, as we’ve seen, Kelly loves to smile, and to ask her to part with her smile would be like asking Lay-Cool to stop being attached at the hip.
Rating: • • • • •
• View the photoshoot.
You knew it was going to happen sooner or later.
With Jersey Shore star Snooki in the mix at WrestleMania, it was only a matter of time before Lay-Cool dressed up as the ‘guidette’ — and that’s exactly what they did on SmackDown this week. Try not to hurt your neck… it’s time to fist pump, Lay-Cool style:
Kicking off the Divas portion of the show are Kelly Kelly and Rosa Mendes set for tag team action against the ‘flawless BFFs’. Out they come in some interesting — and not at all ring-ready — outfits, plus the trademark Snooki poof hair, huge slippers and hairspray.
Kelly Kelly is all business and ready to wrestle but in true Lay-Cool style, Layla and Michelle ham up their Jersey Shore spoof, fist pumping and to their hearts’ content. That is until Kelly and Rosa break up the party by taking them down to the mat. Let the slippers fly!
WWE filmed an angle to air on next week’s Raw, the final show before WrestleMania, in New Jersey yesterday reports PopTheCrowd.com. You can read the spoilers below:
After being shafted from Raw last week, in favor of Snooki, Divas Champion, Eve, is in action this week, taking on Maryse in a non-title match. We even get a mid-match interruption by Michael Cole. Oh joy… Check out the match below:
We come from commercial to find Maryse already in the ring, doing the usual preening. Eve makes her way out next to a pretty good reaction, while Maryse mocks her from inside the ring. The official signals for the bell, but Maryse stops to do a very over-dramatic hairflip before the match begins. Eve brushes Maryse and does a little mocking of her own. Maryse offense and goes for a slap, but Eve dodges and strikes back with a slap of her own.
My biggest pet peeve as a wrestling fan is when I read spoilers and the only description the Diva match gets is “it was a typical Diva match.” Well seriously, what in the world does that mean? Is that your polite way of saying the match was crap? An even more polite way of saying that you didn’t even watch it so “a typical Diva match” just sounds good enough to send in? I don’t get wrestling fans. I really don’t. They’re the worst sports fans in the world. They never look outside their specific comfort zone. It’s awful and ridiculous, and before I turn this into a full fledged rant, let me just get back on subject by saying this was NOT a typical Diva match. I don’t know what that means. This match was a chance for Kelly Kelly to showcase how far she’s come and how she’s able to kind of carry matches now. And it was also a chance for Layla, Kelly’s opponent, and Michelle McCool to start building up their characters towards Wrestlemania. The match itself was short and sweet, but the action itself was a lot better than the offerings the past couple of weeks.
Lay-Cool make their way to the ring first. They’re clearly back on the same page and Michelle is back to being a fashion goddess with her amazing grey mini-dress this week. Talk about one flawless looking human being! Layla looks like she always does, in case anyone cares. Unless she’s wearing the wrapping paper ring gear she looks gorgeous. So yes. Anyway, as Lay-Cool make their way to the ring, SmackDown cuts to a commercial break. It returns with Layla in the ring and Michelle sitting at the commentary booth. Josh Matthews and Booker T are hilariously no-selling Michelle, and she doesn’t even care. She takes over the broadcast with Micheal Cole. Brilliant.